News Zootopia and Moana Blue Sky concepts for Disney's Animal Kingdom

[yensidtlaw1969]

You said the word “animals” at least six times in your above post. I didn’t bother to count too carefully. But yeah - animals belong at Animal Kingdom. You do know that Beastly Kingdom (never built) had “animals” that never existed. So Zootopia is totally appropriate, but again, please don’t ride the ride that offends you so much.

Seems like you read about as carefully as you counted - he used the word "animals" to illustrate the events and circumstances in Zootopia that do not have any correlation to the actual animal kingdom of our real world. The characters in Zootopia operate outside of the intended purview of Disney's Animal Kingdom, which is more nuanced than just "anything that's an animal goes here".

Just because you can't make a compelling counter-argument doesn't mean the person you're responding to was "offended".

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Did you bother to actually read my post?

Animals belong at Animal Kingdom. The characters in Zootopia are “animals” only as far as they vaguely resemble the animals they are based on.

The Zootopia characters are just as much “animals” as Mickey & Minnie are. They are anthropomorphic characters that are in essence human beings. Mice don’t live in houses and cook, and have pet dogs.

Not arguing your point, just supporting it. Zootopia should not come to DAK.

 

[Rich Brownn]

The Zootopia characters are just as much “animals” as Mickey & Minnie are. They are anthropomorphic characters that are in essence human beings. Mice don’t live in houses and cook, and have pet dogs.

Not arguing your point, just supporting it. Zootopia should not come to DAK.

Its not about just animals. Its how animals interact with nature. Mickey and Minnie are people more or less. Pandora deals with how the (imaginary) animals deal with nature, and even point out simulatiries with keystone animals in our world. Nemo while amusing, also mimicked actual animal behavior. Dory didn't get up on two fins and go on a picnic,

 

[Rich Brownn]

What part of the Pirates of the Caribbean relates to real pirates? Give it a rest.

Pirates isn't in Historic World. If there was a historical based land, then Pirates as is would be inappropriate.

 

[Afterthought]

I think we may be demanding too much theme from theme parks.

Look at Six Flags, which is one of the biggest competitors of WDW. The park is named Six Flags, based on the six nations which have claimed sovereignty over Texas. Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Texas Confederacy, and the US.
So tell me how Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Looney Tunes characters fit into any of that? How is walking from a Spanish section of the park into Gotham City considered coherent theming?

While I personally would like something other than Zootopia replacing Dinoland, my voice nor Joe Rhodes voice is going to tune out what is desired by the overall general public, which many are in favor of Zootopia.

 

[LSLS]

I think we may be demanding too much theme from theme parks.

Look at Six Flags, which is one of the biggest competitors of WDW. The park is named Six Flags, based on the six nations which have claimed sovereignty over Texas. Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Texas Confederacy, and the US.
So tell me how Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Looney Tunes characters fit into any of that? How is walking from a Spanish section of the park into Gotham City considered coherent theming?

While I personally would like something other than Zootopia replacing Dinoland, my voice nor Joe Rhodes voice is going to tune out what is desired by the overall general public, which many are in favor of Zootopia.

LOL. If you think the park company going bankrupt is the biggest competitor to Disney, I've got nothing. Most parks built their reputations on thrills and roller coasters, disney did it on theming. And based on the Golder Ticket awards this year, many parks are realizing they need more theming put in (and park enthusiasts are looking for it on top of the rides).

 

[ohioguy]

Zootopia is the natural IP for Animal Kingdom, especially if they are looking for a thrill section to replace the Dinoland area. I can't be the only one that sees this.

 

[crazy4disney]

Question for everyone here going back and forth… do we really think children are analyzing whether or not Zootopia is about animals or people etc… they see animals they want a great ride to go along with that a whole elaborate back story bs ( look at splash redo gasp) is comical. Again give me a good ride loosely based off animals and it will work. You can question the IP bc honestly i dk how popular Zootopia truly still is with kids etc and thats another story but children are not gonna argue this imo and again in the and want a fun attraction to enjoy the rest of this is just a bunch of “adults” going back and forth til they are blue in the face…

 

[lazyboy97o]

Question for everyone here going back and forth… do we really think children are analyzing whether or not Zootopia is about animals or people etc… they see animals they want a great ride to go along with that a whole elaborate back story bs ( look at splash redo gasp) is comical. Again give me a good ride loosely based off animals and it will work. You can question the IP bc honestly i dk how popular Zootopia truly still is with kids etc and thats another story but children are not gonna argue this imo and again in the and want a fun attraction to enjoy the rest of this is just a bunch of “adults” going back and forth til they are blue in the face…

Ah yes, the old “children are too stupid to notice” argument. Maybe the themes are something children can discovery as they grow. The parks aren’t aimed at just children and they most definitely should not be limited by less than flattering views of children.

 

[Br0ckford]

Ah yes, the old “children are too stupid to notice” argument. Maybe the themes are something children can discovery as they grow. The parks aren’t aimed at just children and they most definitely should not be limited by less than flattering views of children.

I was gonna say something similar. Kids may not care but many adults do. It's not just for kids. I don't have any skin in the game here, as AK is not really a park i enjoy. Wife loves it though. We just watched Zootopia for the first time last weekend mostly due to this thread. I can go either way here.

 

[WorldExplorer]

If we're just aiming to entertain kids, they're going at it backwards. They should EXPAND Dino-Rama in that case. Kids love bright colors and they can and will entertain themselves for longer than the average length of a modern Disney ride with just the fun house mirror.

Kids are entertained by literally anything; why even bother with Disney World prices in that case? Any random piece of movie merchandise mixed with a local fair trip will please them.

 

[ToTBellHop]

What caused such a change in your position?

When it was first announced you seemed pretty adamant that Zootopia didn't fit into Animal Kingdom and that hopefully it wouldn't come to fruition, but now you seem to have no problem with it.

Regardless, none of us need to be experts -- the guy that designed the park has already said Zootopia doesn't fit.

I just don’t want Zootopia because I worry it is a bad fit for the existing park. But not because the animals wear pants. The park has never really maintained that standard of avoiding animals who stand in for humans. The park opened with FotLK and ITTBAB.

 

[Dranth]

I am truly puzzled by all the people who seem to discard the intent/theme of Animal Kingdom that was spelled out by the guy who designed it. He already came out and said Zootopia was not a good fit. It’s obvious to me why it doesn’t belong but even if it wasn’t I would tend to listen to the person who actually planned the place. Going to guess he has a better understanding of what they were going for than any of us.

 

[crazy4disney]

Ah yes, the old “children are too stupid to notice” argument. Maybe the themes are something children can discovery as they grow. The parks aren’t aimed at just children and they most definitely should not be limited by less than flattering views of children.

not sure where i said children are too stupid but glad you took it that way.... also never said parks are just aimed at children but lets face it they want to make children happy so they can continue to go & parks are far from themed towards adults adults or even older teens or we would see plenty more Uni type rides... but again glad you took my statement as children are too dumb ... comical... children are young and innocent and able to enjoy things for what they are a fun entertaining ride or attraction without overthinking or analyzing every move a company makes... newsflash more to life than what a Billion dollar company does and puts in their theme parks and on vacation try to just enjoy things as opposed to criticizing it as well and saying well this doesnt fit bc of x y & z... i think plenty can have a better time if they did

 

[Br0ckford]

I am truly puzzled by all the people who seem to discard the intent/theme of Animal Kingdom that was spelled out by the guy who designed it. He already came out and said Zootopia was not a good fit. It’s obvious to me why it doesn’t belong but even if it wasn’t I would tend to listen to the person who actually planned the place. Going to guess he has a better understanding of what they were going for than any of us.

I agree with this totally on the point of he probably knew better what they were going for. However we are where we are. My confusion comes is as to what is the theme of AK as it stands today, not at opening or what we want it to be? Is it a zoo, is it conservation, is it humans, animals and nature interacting? Is it all 3 or even more? I am not a creative person at all. I do believe that imagineering could create a design that would be great. What I don't believe is that they would be allowed to be imagineering and that any design wouldn't get value engendered to death and them become a steaming pile.

 

[lazyboy97o]

not sure where i said children are too stupid but glad you took it that way.... also never said parks are just aimed at children but lets face it they want to make children happy so they can continue to go & parks are far from themed towards adults adults or even older teens or we would see plenty more Uni type rides... but again glad you took my statement as children are too dumb ... comical... children are young and innocent and able to enjoy things for what they are a fun entertaining ride or attraction without overthinking or analyzing every move a company makes... newsflash more to life than what a Billion dollar company does and puts in their theme parks and on vacation try to just enjoy things as opposed to criticizing it as well and saying well this doesnt fit bc of x y & z... i think plenty can have a better time if they did

What then is the preferred adjective for people who don’t think about things and just accept whatever?

 

[Incomudro]

Why do we still go back and forth over whether something fits or not into a land or park. Disney stopped worrying about that a long time ago. They will put what they want where they want now. If they want to put Mary Poppins in Dinoland they will do it and have some kind of story behind it. We can all name numerous attractions that don’t “fit”.

Because AK was the last park that seemed to hold most true to itself.
"Because it's got cartoon animals" doesn't make it a match for AK.

 

[crazy4disney]

What then is the preferred adjective for people who don’t think about things and just accept whatever?

Its a vacation destination meant to be fun!!! Not analyzed and overthought every single step you take and ride you go on and show you watch… You must be real fun to be with at Disney walking the parks. I gotta say.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Its a vacation destination meant to be fun!!! Not analyzed and overthought every single step you take and ride you go on and show you watch… You must be real fun to be with at Disney walking the parks. I gotta say.

Then what is the point of theming? Why pay all that extra money (as either a guest or the business) for stuff that doesn’t matter? How is thinking somehow not compatible with fun?

 

[Incomudro]

I agree with this totally on the point of he probably knew better what they were going for. However we are where we are. My confusion comes is as to what is the theme of AK as it stands today, not at opening or what we want it to be? Is it a zoo, is it conservation, is it humans, animals and nature interacting? Is it all 3 or even more? I am not a creative person at all. I do believe that imagineering could create a design that would be great. What I don't believe is that they would be allowed to be imagineering and that any design wouldn't get value engendered to death and them become a steaming pile.

I think nature, and/or man's presence in nature - mostly in an older sense is the key part of AK.
Everything in AK is either natural, or worn - with the exception of the Dino Institute which was "built" to study and display dinpsaurs.
Zootopia is a modern metropolis.
It's got nothing to do with animals or nature.
Honestly, if Disney were looking to put a larger IP presence in AK - then LIon King or Jungle Book would be a far better fit.
The settings are at least natural.
The look can be integrated much more seamlessly, and the animal behavior and movement is far less anthropomorphic.